


La musica eres tu

by GreenSocks



Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: Comfort, Cursing (at the beginning), Dancing, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Family Fluff, Fluff, Just an excuse to show you all how good Raul Esparza sings, Some Spanish
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-12
Updated: 2016-05-12
Packaged: 2018-06-07 21:56:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,784
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6826027
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GreenSocks/pseuds/GreenSocks
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It wasn't the first time of Rafael in a big family party. It was the first time he didn't went alone for once. And no, it wasn't to show off his dancing skills.</p>
            </blockquote>





	La musica eres tu

**Author's Note:**

> Made after watching the talented Raúl Esparza on 'La música que te gusta', where he actually said so. There are bits of spanish in the middle, everything is translated at the end. The song is 'La gloria eres tú" originally sang by Jose Antonio Mendez.
> 
> Enjoy reading! (And, maybe, if you have some free time, watch it! He starts singing at 2:17)
> 
> / watch ? v = WAgQ70oCNHA

# La música eres tu

 

   He liked his family. Really. But sometimes, in big family reunions with a lot of booze and salsa in the backround, made him feel a little anxious. Maybe because the only thing he could remember after all those parties was his father after them, usually getting mad at his _mamá_ for looking at his cousin in a way he found odd, the void feeling on his chest, the shushing from his big brother who shared a bedroom with him to make him stop crying or he was going to be even more mad ‘ _Yo no he criado maricones’_ …

   Shivers went down his spine while he stared at the big rectangular table where his cousin’s younger daughter laughed with her friends, with a drink on his hand. His _plus one_ put a hand on his shoulder as she watched him being in a dark place,

   

    " Are you okay? You just stop talking and that’s for sure not a good sign" – Olivia smiled at Rafael who turned at her and gave her an apologetically smile even when she lifted an eyebrow- "We can leave if you’re not feeling comfortable."

 

   "What? No, it’s just…" -Rafael, or _Rafi_ as almost everyone at the party called him since his arrival, denied with his head and approached the glass with liqueur to his lips to continue talking- "This bring me so many flashbacks."

 

   "Not all good, if you ask me. You looked a little zoomed out" –the SVU Lieutenant nod to one of his relatives, Josefa, if she was correct, she was introduced to at least 40 people today and was still learning, who waved her hand to her before continue talking really close to an older woman about surely them- "They all were nice, you know, and accepting. And I never heard you counselor speaking so much Spanish in let alone one hour before."

 

    "Don’t we all have secret talents, Lieutenant? Theirs, for example, gossip about us" –the Cuban-American smiled at her and nod to his second cousin and his aunt- "They all were really happy I came here today, bringing a beautiful and law enforcement women was a plus. I usually just send a gift and make a, what I try to be, convincing story."

 

_Liv_ nodded. She got it. Her family was too a bit not usual and she didn’t even spoke to his half brother in God knows how many years now. Even after Noah… Just the thought of her kid made her grab her phone and checking. No new update from Lucy since two hours ago when she told her that he was in sleepy-land.

 

   "Can I ask why this time was different?" –she thought she knew already the answer: it’s been a year since the Muñoz incident, and after all what happened with him and his family, there was no way he was going to show up, so she took a deep sip from her third mojito in the party-

 

   "I guess I’m getting old… I wanted to see them again. A _quinceañera_ is a big party and I wanted to be here, remember this. I never let myself forget from where I’m, _claro que no,_ but it’s never bad to have a new perspective" –he gave her a genuine smile and this time couldn’t avoid a little swing from his shoulders, he knew the song too well, even when the memory of whom was he with the last time he danced it wasn’t a nice thought at this time, he made him sway- "You know, this singer was one of my _abuelita_ ’s favorite ones, she used to play it every Sunday when we came back from church."

 

   "Really? I can’t imagine that, you going to church every Sunday like a nice catholic boy" –she smiled at him, catching his move and moving a bit her head to the music. She tried to catch at least a few words but her Spanish wasn’t that good- "It sounds like a really romantic song, though."

 

   "Aren’t all songs about love? When it ends nicely, when not, when you’re falling in love… Oh, don’t give me that look, you make me feel shy, like an old romantic… "–he laughed and she couldn’t avoid how suitable the little wrinkles in his eyes and around his mouth made him look even a little more happier- 

 

   Olivia laughs and nods while she put a stray of hair behind her right ear, without noticing how Rafael stopped smiling for a moment to catch every second of her.

 

   "Maybe we should dance" –he says without even thinking it, pumped by the short move of her accommodating her hair, knowing that this was all a friendly date that she was doing this because he told her he needed courage, but for a second, just one, he wanted to everyone here to see how beautiful his date was. A totally stupidity if you ask him.

 

   "Can you dance?" –the ask was silly and she knew it, she already danced with him, once, during Jesse’s communion, and she’d to admit that he’d his moves. She stood up and took the napkin in her lap to put it next to her plate- "What? Are you intimidated?"

 

    The song changed when he stood up, like some cheesy teen movie, but he still knew the song. He offered his hand, _no, he wasn’t internally freaking out like he was asking Yelina to dance with him at his first school dance_ , instead he felt like a little piece of a internal puzzle that he never knew where it was, just perfectly clicked, just when she grabbed his buffy hand and squeezed a bit.

 

   "Me? You should be, don’t you know the saying?" –he turned her face to her when they got into the improvised dance floor and gently put one of her hands to his shoulder and the other one grabbing her hand, putting his other hand around her waist, getting a little close, verifying she was ok with it-

 

    "A bird in hand is worth two in the bush?" –she cheeky answered him, not hesitating for a second when she felt his arm around her, feeling his legs starting to follow a few steps, trying to guide her-

 

    "No, _hijo de cubano tiene que saber bailar "_ –he told her with a winning smile, kinda of how he was feeling internally right now, starting to slowly move to the soft sound of the bolero, feeling like they were alone instead of half of his mother’s family around them dancing too- "son of Cubans has to know how to dance."

  

   "Hmmm, I see" –she gave him a soft and short laugh, looking at his light green eyes with hers really dark but sparkly, feeling the song in her bones, just following his lead blindly- "Well, you have your moves; I won’t take that from you, mister. I don’t remember the last time that I slowed dance… maybe high school?"

 

    "Really? That far ago? Oh, you don’t get to be mad at me, you know I’m your age Liv, besides; an ex-prom queen is dancing with me? What I would do to say to me at 16, ‘it does get better’?" –he smiles when he feels her hand on his shoulder give him a warning grip, trying his best not looking at her eyes, he can’t he just feel drowned and _no, you work with her, come on Rafael_ -

 

    "Hey, _Rafi, si tú quieres podemos cambiar cuando tú quieras, hermano"_ –his cousin Alberto gave him a wink and his pregnant wife, Cecilia, looked at him really mad, giving him a little punch to his shoulder, making him kiss her and hugged her while telling some soft words in Spanish that he would love to not know what they meant-

 

    "Sorry about that, he’s just that… I won’t justify him" –he denied with his head and keep moving with Olivia, just giving a few steps back for assurance to not be near him, making the mistake of looking at her eyes and start semi mumbling- "So, in general, did you like this? I mean the whole big latin family and loud music and the food-"

 

   "I did, slow down, it’s not the first time to be in a big party, you know. Also, your mom called me like a week ago to teach me about your relatives, no biggie" –for the first time in all the night he didn’t doubt about her answer, she looked so… carefree, spinning when he moved his arm allowing her to do so, knowing that she loved to have the control but time to time it should be nice to be relaxed- "So, you have a smart mouth, you know how to ski and now you can dance, is there any other secret talent I should know?"

 

   He knew she was teasing him, it was their way to speak to each other and he loved it. He loved to being able to be sarcastic and not being confused as a butt. – "Well, actually, I do have a few other ones…"

 

   He smiled and kept dancing, noting her lifted brow and knew that it did sound not that good. Taking a deep breath, he watched her eyes and just start to sing to her in a low voice – "E _res mi bien lo que me tiene extasiado, ¿porqué negar que de ti estoy enamorado?_   _D_ _e tu dulce alma que es toda sentimiento, de esos ojazos negros de un raro fulgor, que me dominan e incitan al amor…_ _Eres un encanto, eres mi ilusión_ , or something on those line-"

   

   Before he could continuing telling her how his singing voice wasn’t the best or how his _abuelita_ sang it to him when he was too little to even understand how being in love felt like or that he choose to sing that song because her big black eyes was all he could think when he was feeling too down to go home alone at night after a long complicated case… She just kissed him. Not big ceremonies, not a special place or a fancy dinner first. A big party with his family, old Cuban boleros in the background after having his childhood’s most beloved meals.

 

   When they separated, he knew something had changed. And no, it wasn’t that his family just saw him kissing a beautiful woman that he _assured them_ wasn’t dating him in any possible way- _stop asking me mami, por favor-_ , or that he knew now that he’d to kiss her again just for checking. It was that smoothing feeling in his chest. This calm and relaxed feeling that he never felt before.

 

     And he loved every single moment of it.

**Author's Note:**

> Translations:
> 
> *"Mamá": mom.  
> *"Abuelita": grannie.  
> *"Yo no he criado maricones": I didn't raised faggots.  
> *"Quinceañera": 15th birthday party.  
> *"Hijo de cubano tiene que saber bailar": son of cubans has to know how to dance.  
> *"Si tú quieres podemos cambiar cuando tú quieras, hermano": if you want to, we can exchange whenever you want to, bro.  
> *"Eres mi bien lo que me tiene extasiado, ¿porqué negar que de ti estoy enamorado? De tu dulce alma que es toda sentimiento, de esos ojazos negros de un raro fulgor, que me dominan e incitan al amor… Eres un encanto, eres mi ilusión": You're actually who had me rapt, why should I deny that I'm in love with you? Of your sweet soul, that's all feeling, of those big black eyes of a rare glint, that dominate me and incite me to love... You're a charm, you're my ilusion".


End file.
